Colorado-Prairie View A&M Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement“Well that was a workman like effort I felt. I thought there were some things we can build on, especially offensively, for tonight's game. 18 assists is always a good number on 26 baskets. We’ll take that every night. Still turned it over a little bit too much but it came in bunches and that's got to be something that we've got to get under control quickly, but I like how we shared the ball and moved the ball. Against a team that makes you play a little fast and tries to speed you up, I thought we did a good job tonight for the most part. Shooting 55% the second half shows great efficiency. We'll take the win and we'll move on and now it's on to Chicago and the Dayton Flyers.
On Focusing Less On Scouting This Week
“I probably would think that we spent less time on the scouting report or preparing for Prairie View A&M than we have any team. Not because we don't respect them, but because we wanted our players to focus on how they are playing the game. Sometimes you can concentrate a little bit too much on your opponents, I think. We have defensive principles. We have them for a reason, to play with them. We have to understand personnel as the game goes on and certainly through scouting reports. Our guys did a good job of that tonight. I think there were some dividends paid on working on ourselves for three days in practice. Again, tomorrow will be more of a preparation practice. We're not going to be able to go to Chicago and practice for two hours on ourselves, we got to get our bodies rested and recovered. We have to have great energy at 5:30, central time on Saturday.”
On The Second Half Offense
“I thought McKinley Wright the whole night was really looking to get guys involved. Maybe a little bit, I don't want to say too much. But, you look at his line, he scores 11 points on five shots. He's very efficient, you know, six assists, seven rebounds, two blocked shots. I know you look at his four turnovers. The first half turnovers we got to get rid of. One of them was an offensive foul, that I thought wasn't. The other one was an offensive rebound where he kind of fell out of bounds. So, two of his four, those things just happen. Sometimes you look at numbers, the 16 number, and three of them came at garbage time. I’m not saying that that's acceptable, but we went a really good stretch there in the second half where we didn't turn it over. That's what we have to have. Those stretches need to get longer and longer and we’ll become much more efficient when we do that.”
On Poor Defensive Rebounding Tonight
“Yes, absolutely. Last three games, Northern Iowa had 15, Colorado State had 11, and Prairie View had 10. We can't let that happen against good teams. Again, turnovers and second opportunities against good teams will come back to haunt you. So we have to understand that and that's what I mean when I say the margin of error shrinks when you play Dayton versus Prairie View A&M. It shrinks.”
On What Causes Poor Rebounding
“Guys don't box out. Plain and simple. They don't box out. McKinley Wright was awful tonight boxing out. He had six defensive rebounds, but he should of had 10 if he boxes his guy out. I thought he was really poor boxing out tonight, I thought Tyler Bey was really poor boxing out tonight. Evan Battey’s usually pretty darn good at it. Our guards have to do a better job and all five guys. Look, defensive rebounding is a five-man responsibility, not a one-man responsibility. But I know specifically I can point to two or three that McKinley missed and Tyler missed. We just gotta get rid of that. It's a simple question and it's a simple answer; box out.”
On The Potential Of The Offense Going Forward
“When we get everybody making shots at the clip that they're able to. You get Shane Gatling making shots on the same night D’Shawn Schwartz is making shots in the same night Max Daniels is making shots on the same night Lucas Siewerts making shots. We are a dangerous team. That hasn't happened yet. That's when I say the upside or the ceiling is still very, very high for this team. That's what I'm talking about. We shrink those turnovers down to single digits or even 10 or 11 a game and we shoot the ball the way we're capable of shooting the ball from those spots. And you got Evan down low and Tyler down low. Dangerous, dangerous team. We scored 83 tonight, a season high. To me, with this team as powerful as we are offensively in terms of our possibilities, we should be averaging in the mid 70s.”
On Evan Battey’s Improvement
“Evan is getting better and better. He’s playing within himself. He made free throws tonight. It’s funny, the Colorado State game, we were subbing him offense-defense and I told him on the bus on the way back that 'm done doing that. I have a lot of confidence in you as a free throw shooter. We talked a lot about confidence this week with our players. The only way you get confidence is getting in the gym and working on it. I know D’Shawn’s in the gym working on his shot, I see it every day before practice. I know Evan’s working on his free throws after practice every day and his jump shot. That's what you need to get that confidence and keep getting better.”
On The Upcoming Game Versus Dayton
“I caught a few of their games in Maui. I did watch their North Texas game this week. It’s the first time I think I've done that, honestly, as a head coach before a game. I just knew this was gonna be a quick turnaround. But Obadiah Toppin is a terrific player. He has made major strides. He really can shoot the ball from three now and he's a really good low post player. He's a matchup problem, there's no doubt about it. We've got our work cut out for, but he's not their only weapon. The thing that makes Dayton so good is they've got depth, they've got quality depth, they're well coached, they defend, they're efficient on offense. They’re legit. Dayton’s a legit team. They're legit top 20 team. So, this is an opportunity you just relish.”
On Spencer Dinwiddie’s 41 Points For The Nets Tonight
“Good for Spencer. That would be awesome and deserving for him to go to the All-Star Game. I'm a huge fan of Spencer. We love and we're proud of him. He's as good as he wants to be. If he's not an all-star this year he will be in the future I think as long as he keeps staying healthy and doing what he does. That’s awesome to hear.”
Colorado Players
Evan Battey, So., F
On gaining momentum
“We want to play with pace, and we got two good looking transition baskets from D’Shawn. That’s kind of it. I told them to keep shooting. Keep shooting. He was a little bit down, but I knew he would make it in. Props to him.”
On getting the ball to the basket
“I always got it to the basket. It’s what I always do.”
On replicating the same energy on Saturday
“We are going to stand behind Ken and support him and really have his back.”
D’Shawn Schwartz, Jr., G
On finally getting a shot to go in
“I just needed to see something go in. Once I get one, I feel like the basket gets huge. Ken told me to just keep shooting it and keep shooting it and even if two guys really believe in you that’s really going to help you play well.”
On getting a shot at a top 15 team again
“I think it’s going to help us. After the Northern Iowa loss, certainly also Kansas, it shows that we can play against good teams and not only hold our own but show that we’re a great team.”
On Wright’s ties to Dayton
“It was really fun last year. I just remembered playing them in the NIT, just thinking, ‘we need this one’. It was just fun. Fun environment, everyone was clicking, I expect the same thing in this game.”
McKinley Wright, Jr., G
On offensive performance tonight
“It was better. Better than the last couple of games. We just have to stay with each other, stay believing in each other and everything will go in the right direction. We still had 15 or 16 turnovers, which we have to limit but as offense scoring and sharing the ball, it was way better.”
On the Dayton game
“It’s a big one. It’s going to be a fun one. It’s one we have to win. I was committed to that school, so I want this win, I need this win. Before the season started coach told me we were playing Dayton again and my eyes lit up. It’s going to be fun. I know a lot of those guys from when I was committed there. There’s history. I have a lot of family in Chicago, 50-60 family members there. It’ll be fun.”
Prairie View A&M Head Coach Byron Smith
On how CU was able to pull away
“They just played good team basketball, ran their offense and picked their spots. They were a very efficient team, 26 of 28 free-throws when we fouled them. The also played disciplined on defense and made us play. I thought that they just executed on offense, got the ball on the inside and did a good job. They are a good basketball team for sure.”
On what was the turning point in the game
“I could point to a lot of things. When it was a five point game and there were about six seconds on an out of bounds play we let McKinley score a basket and then they went on a big run. I would probably say was the most critical point for us. We had planned to try and defend him to finish the possession, get a rebound and go down to make some momentum offensively. But when he scored that basket it got them going a little bit.”
On any positive takeaways from today’s game
“There are always positives. We played hard, and we are prepared for another season as is Colorado. We got a lot of new guys, we are just getting these guys to learn how to play well together.”
On the significance of having Devonte Patterson back
“It means a lot, obviously he has been out a little bit. He was pre-season player of the year for a reason. He still really isn’t himself yet but we are trying to get him back into shape and back into his rhythm. We think that he will, but it is a big plus for us to have him back.”